4 cavity vs. 2 cavity

[LubeckTech]

Is there any advantage in a 2 cavity over a 4 cavity other than cost?? I would think a 4 cavity would be more desirable as it should be more time efficient but I mostly see 2 cavities advertised. I have not started casting yet but am trying to make the best purchases to start in the spring.

[Sundogg1911]

2 cavitys are a little easier to keep at an even temp. Sometimes its a little tough to get all 4 dropping evenly, especially at first, while getting the mold up to the correct temp :roll: . But the 4 bangers will get'cha twice as many boolits in almost the same abount of time. Another advantage of the 2 is if you ever think you'll want to switch to a semi-auto casting machine like the Magma Master Caster, you can convert the 2 cavity machines to work with it (Most of the major brands except Lee) If you only plan to hand cast I would go with the 4 cavity. The few little issues they have are usually easy to overcome. I have several 2 cavity and 4 (and 6) My Lyman and Hensley and Gibbs 4 cavity molds work well.:drinks:

:castmine:

[felix]

In general, use two cavity iron molds for small caliber boolits. The iron retains heat allowing for a slower pace to make good boolits. Other than that, weight of the mold plus the boolits becomes a factor, especially if you are over 60. ... felix

[mooman76]

Yes if you shoot a particular bullet allot go with 4 or 6 cavity but if you only shoot that bullet occationally two banger is fine. If you get a 4 or 6 cavity it doesn't mean you doubled or trippled you bullets in the same amount of time and there are other things to concider like larger pot dipper and so forth not to mention I have allot more bullets that don't make it on a larger mould before it gets going good. Some people have allot of time and enjoy doing the bullets!

[Lloyd Smale]

only molds I use alot that arent 4 and 6 cavitys are ones that they dont make that way. What i do in that case is buy 2 or even 3 of them and cast them at the same time.

[madcaster]

Try handling a 10 cavity sometime,it wears you out!

[Dale53]

I am over 60 (alright, alright, WAY over sixty[smilie=1:) and I have noticed that iron gang moulds are a problem. I am in pretty good shape, work out regularly, and have few health issues. However, an 8-10 cavity iron H&G mould is almost too much for me to enjoy handling. However, four cavity iron moulds can be handled well, and give excellent results. Six cavity Lee moulds, being aluminum are NO PROBLEM at all! So, when somebody says something "down" about Lee moulds, my hackles rise:twisted:.
Single cavity moulds are pretty much on my "AIN'T INTERESTED" list except the wonderful "Borton & Darr" single cavity custom moulds for my Schuetzen rifles. I am willing to put up with a single cavity mould for a ½ minute mould or a hollow point hunting mould of various calibers as they will actually only be used to sight in and probably a single shot while hunting (if it is deer). Only makes sense.

However, for rifles of 1.5" or more at 100 yards and all pistols and revolvers I WILL use multi cavity moulds.

As an aside, for those that are hesitant to use multi-cavity moulds in target rifles, my BPCR's will shoot VERY competitively to six hundred yards (the furthest that I have shot it) with a four cavity NEI Alum mould after many, many trials. The mould makers today, including Lee, are making some very nice multi cavity moulds.

Dale53

[madcaster]

Just as a side thought,there are 2 Don Eagen bullet cherries on EBay right now,pretty intresting I think...

[Buckshot]

...........1C, vs 2C, vs 4C, vs 6C, etc just means added production, and the added possibility of more variation in boolits dropped. If you are shooting pistols at pins, steel, paper at 25 yards or tin cans, clay birds and dirt clods, a look at the bases when the sprueplate clears them, and another when you pickem up to lube-size or seat is all that's required.

Pretty much ditto for rifle boolits for plinking or shorter range target shooting. The more competative and demanding your shooting becomes (accuracy and/or velocity), the more stringent your booit selection will become. This then leads to scaling each one and putting them into batches. I haven't scaled a slug in a coons age :-)

.................Buckshot

[BruceB]

So far, I haven't even SEEN a 6-cavity Lee mould, but their reputation is very decent.

I do have a fair number of Lyman/Ideal 4-cavity moulds, including rifle designs, and I am definitely impressed with the consistency of the bullets from the four cavities....there's VERY little variation either in weight or dimensions among the bullets from all four holes.

Production is certainly helped with the 4-cavity moulds as compared to those with fewer cavities. I find that 800 per hour is fairly easy, with some runs going over 1000 per hour when everything is perking just right. In 2-cavity RCBS, Lyman and Lee moulds, casting over 400 per hour is pretty easy, and up to maybe 550 bullets per hour can be achieved. Quality is just fine for my purposes, with very small extreme weight spreads and no dimensional faults.

I'm also one of the geriatric set, well over 60 now, and 4-cavity iron moulds present no problems (yet) to my physical state. I preheat iron 4-cav moulds in the pot, usually keeping the blocks in contact with the 870-degree melt for about a minute. Thirty seconds or so will do for preheating the smaller blocks with fewer cavities. I have no trouble with varying temps when casting fast and hot.

The single-cavity moulds in my stable were mostly bought as test items for the bullet design, but some of my larger-bore moulds are only available in the single-hole format. These last ones would be the over-.40 caliber rifle moulds. One-banger moulds are painfully slow to me, but I still use 'em quite a bit.

[LAH]

Bruce says: I do have a fair number of Lyman/Ideal 4-cavity moulds, including rifle designs, and I am definitely impressed with the consistency of the bullets from the four cavities....there's VERY little variation either in weight or dimensions among the bullets from all four holes.

Creeker says..................10-4.

[TAWILDCATT]

I to am over 60 by over 20yrs lee 6 cavity are great.I've 4 /45acp/45 colt/32&380.I've used H&G 6 cavity I thought I was going to strain.and that was when I was 35.lees are good and the price is right.I guess most of the dealers are running short as I'm on back order for couple of lee's.:coffee: :Fire: :castmine:

[FISH4BUGS]

........you know the value of a 4 cavity, 6 cavity or 10 cavity Hensley & Gibbs mould!

[hammerhead357]

Guys,
I use a lot of 8 and 10 cavity molds and its no strain if you do it right. Other than moving a mold from the hot plate to the casting pot I very rarely pick one up. It is just that one has to have the proper casting setup.

I just tried to upload a picture of my casting set up with molds in place but it was to large will try again later with that. The key with large cavity iron molds is to work smart not hard and it still can be hard work if you do it for several hours at a time.

I think I have up loaded some pictures of my casting bench before but not sure.

Wes